


The Color Red

by treblemakerz



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Fluff and Angst, buckle up creampuffs, romance but also murder, slowburn, tw for violence and blood and all that jazz
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-03-23
Packaged: 2018-05-27 13:20:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6286285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/treblemakerz/pseuds/treblemakerz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At 24 years old, Lexa Woods has already developed a reputation as the top homicide detective in New York. When two men from Ark Laboratories are found dead, her life becomes a whirlwind as she desperately tries to find answers while struggling to keep her own feelings in check.</p><p>Clarke Griffin is 26 years old and not at all where she wants to be. Unhappy with her job and having learned that her (ex)boyfriend is a sleaze, she feels like she needs to make a change. She needs to release whatever's building up inside of her.</p><p>The lives of Lexa Woods and Clarke Griffin intersect in the aftermath of a bloody crime. Sparks fly as they each find something special in the other. But there's a killer on the loose, and no one knows who they are or what they want. If Lexa doesn't figure it out, Clarke might just be the next target.</p><p>**ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE**</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So this is something I've been thinking about for a few weeks, and finally decided to just jump in and give it a go. It's a Clexa romance, yes, but keep in mind there's a LOOOOTTT of other story that comes with it so buckle up and be prepared. This chapter isn't really a full one, by the way, it's more of just a prologue.

The raindrops bounced steadily off the windowpane. Thelonius Jaha filed away the papers on his desk, locked his briefcase, and put on his coat. The office was dead quiet; everyone had gone home hours ago, but he’d had unfinished paperwork to do and decided to stay a few extra minutes. Surprising, he thought, how a few minutes can be so easily extended to a few hours when you become absorbed in your work.

Jaha picked up his things and walked out into the corridor. He stopped and looked back, going through his mental checklist to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. The music from the corridor leading to the labs interrupted his thoughts. _Must be Jake,_ he thought. Jake would sometimes bring a radio to work on the night shift. It’d been a while since Jaha had seen the technician and, after a moment, he began walking towards the labs. As he turned a bend in the hallway, he saw the door to the room where the music seemed to be coming from was closed. Curious, he walked over and carefully opened it.

“Hey, Jake, what—“

A hand came forward in the darkness and grasped Jaha’s throat. He got a quick glance of knife, a small glint of light reflecting from the steel, before the blade plunged into his gut.

Jaha reached forward to try and grab the stranger, to no avail. Again and again he felt the blade cut into him, before he could feel nothing. His limp body fell to the floor.

Thelonius Jaha was dead.

 

* * *

 

 

Detective Lexa Woods arrived at the Ark Laboratories facility at 8:23am the next morning.

“Hello, Lexa,” a burly police officer greeted her at the door to the building, “we’ve been expecting you.”

Gustus Terram had been on the force for approximately twenty-five years. He had always been a rock of a man, and perhaps the greatest stabilizing factor in the small New York town’s police department. Lexa had always relied on his support, and looked upon him as a father figure.

“Hey, Gustus. What’ve we got here?”

Gustus pursed his lips and shook his head. “Well, it isn’t good. We got a call from the cleaning guys at around 10:45 last night. It appears that while they were making their rounds, they came across the body of one of the laboratory technicians, one Jake Griffin. It looks like his throat had been slashed from ear to ear…messy business.”

“Anything else?”

“Yeah, it looks like the guy was tortured or something before his throat was slit. Apparently whoever killed him stuffed some paper towels into his mouth so no one could hear the screams, and then proceeded to smash his fingers with a hammer. We checked the hammer for prints, but didn’t find anything. It was wiped clean except for all the blood on the head.”

Lexa winced as she thought of all the pain this guy must have felt before death overtook him. That is, if he hadn’t already passed out from said pain. “Any sign that it was a robbery?”

“No, not really,” Gustus sighed. “He had money in his wallet, which wasn’t touched, and it appears that nothing is missing from the premises. I have the wallet with me in case it becomes relevant. One strange thing, though…the victim has a mark on one of his fingers that appears to be a mark that a ring would leave, but there was no ring to be found. His fingers were in such bad shape, though, that it’s hard to tell. That’s the only thing we could possibly see that was taken; that is, if the guy had a ring at all.”

After pondering the information for a moment, Lexa held out her hand. “Let me see the wallet.”

Gustus reached into his satchel and pulled out a sealed plastic bag, opening it and hesitating for only a moment before giving the contents to Lexa.

Lexa flipped the bi-fold open. The first thing she noticed was a driver’s license. _Jake Griffin. Age 48._ The picture on the ID showed a handsome man beaming up at her, and she began to feel sick at the thought of his blood splattered just down the hall.

Aside from his license, there was really only one other thing of interest in Mr. Griffin’s wallet. Lexa pulled out a photograph that looked to be fairly recent. Mr. Griffin was flanked by two women, one on either side of him, and he had an arm around each. One was a brunette that looked to be about his age, probably his wife. _Perhaps if he was wearing a ring, it was a wedding ring?_ Lexa wondered. The other woman was blonde, seemingly closer to Lexa’s age than Jake’s. A daughter? A niece? A coworker?

For some reason, Lexa couldn’t take her eyes off of the blonde in the picture. Something about her was captivating. It took Gustus clearing his throat to snap Lexa out of her thoughts.

She quickly replaced the photo and handed the wallet back to the other officer.

“Okay,” she breathed out, “let’s see what we’ve got.”

Gustus led her through the entrance and down the corridor to the scene of the crime. As they were walking past one of the rooms near the laboratories, Lexa happened to notice a little puddle of liquid seeping out from under the door.

“Hold it,” she said, as she walked over to the door and knelt down. “Shit, Gustus, this is blood.”

She tried to open the door but it was locked.

“Get one of the building managers over here! Quickly!”

Gustus ran off and returned in less than two minutes with a short, balding man wearing glasses.

“Lexa, this is Fred, the laboratory manager.”

Lexa looked at the man, who was breathing heavily from the run through the building.

“What’s behind this door?”

“It’s our s-sample room,” he stammered, surprised by the urgency in the young woman’s voice, “where we keep samples that we’ve tested in the laboratory. The door isn’t usually locked.”

“Well, it is today. Open it!” Lexa shouted at the man, “Now!”

The little man pulled out a set of keys and fumbled with them before the click of a lock was heard.

As the door swung open, Lexa knew her day, week, month, maybe year was about to change. There on the floor, in a pile of boxes and blood, was the crumpled body of Thelonius Jaha.


	2. Chapter 2

Lexa Woods had joined the Polis police force only five years ago, but she was easily one of the sharpest officers the town had ever seen. She climbed the ranks quickly and, at the age of 24, was already a renowned detective. Her life after high school was solely dedicated to her career. It was what she had wanted. A strange feeling plagued her, though. Lexa knew something was missing, and she knew that it was probably due to the fact that her life was a lonely and quiet one. Her parents had cut off contact when she told them about her sexuality. Her sister lived in Michigan, and while they constantly spoke on the phone, it wasn’t the same as having her there. And Costia…

Lexa shook the train of thought from her head and slipped her key into the lock of the apartment door. Walking in, she was met with darkness, and she faintly heard voices coming from her bedroom. She hated coming home to an empty, quiet apartment, so she usually left the TV on for the illusion that people were there. She flicked the light switch, and the darkness disappeared.

Within a few minutes, Lexa had opened a can of Coke and downed about half of it to quench the dryness of her throat. All that had transpired that day ran through her brain as she plopped down on the couch.

A laboratory technician had been tortured and murdered and one of Ark’s executives had been stabbed to death, presumably by the same person. Were both killings premeditated? Or was one of them just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time? And what was the motive? Nothing appeared to be stolen, except possibly the technician’s ring. So far, they had no fingerprints or other evidence to help them even create a list of suspects.

 _Tomorrow is another day,_ Lexa thought. She turned on the TV and watched idly for a while before sleep overtook her. Among the many faces that plagued her dreams that night was a new one: the blonde girl from Jake Griffin’s photo.

 

* * *

 

If Clarke Griffin was expecting something when she got back to her apartment after work, it wasn’t an inconsolable mother.

After a nine-hour shift at the hospital, Clarke just wanted to sleep. She pushed open the apartment door and prepared to tell her roommates she wouldn’t be hanging out with them tonight when the sound of heavy sobs hit her ears. Concern overtook her and she dropped her keys, running towards the source of the wailing.

In the kitchen sat Abby Griffin, in a state of utter despair. Octavia and Raven, Clarke’s roommates, were attempting to comfort her but nothing seemed to be working. Octavia was the first to notice Clarke had walked in, and immediately ran over to wrap her friend in her arms.

“We’ve been trying to call you all day, but it kept going to voicemail,” Octavia breathed out. “Your mom came over because she thought you might be here, but we told her we hadn’t heard from you since you left this morning.”

“Yeah, I usually have it off when I’m working. What the hell happened?”

Silence enveloped the room for a moment, all eyes on Clarke. Raven opened her mouth to speak, but Abby beat her to it.

“Clarke, I—Jake—your father…he was murdered. The police…they found him this morning.”

 

* * *

 

Clarke stayed at her mother’s that night, in her childhood room, and cried until it felt as if her whole body had run dry. Who would want to murder her dad? Her dad, who was just a fucking lab technician! Not a politician, not a corrupt business man, just a scientist. He had nothing worth killing for, as far as Clarke knew.

She’d called into work sick. Really, all she wanted to do was just quit. Medicine had never been the field she desired to work in, but her mom had instilled in her from an early age that art was a hobby, not a career. Abby kept pushing her to go to medical school, and she finally relented. And here she was, 26 years old, working her first job as a nurse in the local ER. She hated it. The only saving grace had been that she knew she was saving lives.

That felt like a sham now, too, since no one could save her father’s.

A knock at the door came around 9:30am. “Clarke…sweetie, it’s mom. Can I come in?”

Her mother’s voice was hoarse, and understandably so. The woman had been crying just as hard as Clarke.

“Yeah. It’s open.”

The door creaked as Abby slowly entered the room and sat on the edge of her daughter’s bed. “A detective called a few minutes ago. She’s going to come by and ask us a few questions, try to see if we know anything that can help the police with the case. Is that okay?”

Clarke thought for a moment before nodding her head. She’d do anything if it meant the bastard who killer her father would be behind bars.

 

* * *

 

Lexa rang the bell and waited a beat. She heard footsteps approaching, and the door swung open to reveal a woman that Lexa recognized as the brunette from Mr. Griffin’s picture.

She cleared her throat. “Hi, I’m Detective Woods from the Polis police department. I believe we spoke on the phone. Are you Mrs. Griffin?”

“Just call me Abby. Please, come in.”

Lexa stepped over the threshold and into the house, before getting a good look at Abby Griffin. The woman looked disheveled and tired, her eyes bloodshot and rimmed with dark circles. Of course, it’s no wonder why.

Abby led Lexa to the living room and told her to have a seat while she fixed some coffee. Lexa did as she was told, and not long after she sat down she heard a door opening on the second floor. She watched as a figure descended the staircase and paled when she realized it was the other girl from Mr. Griffin’s picture, the blonde. The one who had haunted her dreams the night before.

The girl was strikingly beautiful even in her current state. Though her eyes showed that she had obviously been crying heavily, Lexa could see that they were a beautiful shade of blue. A color akin to the sky on a clear day. The girl’s features managed to be soft yet sharp at the same time, and her face was framed with the familiar long blonde hair, though it was messier than it had been in the photo. Her figure wasn’t bad, either. Lexa’s eyes trailed up and down her frame before she mentally slapped herself. _This is a case, not a chance to ogle women,_ Lexa chastised herself. _Get it together._

The detective stood up as the girl entered the living room. Silence hung between the two as they looked at one another, but it was comfortable silence. Finally, one of them parted their lips and spoke.

“I’m Clarke Griffin. Jake was my father.”

“Clarke Griffin,” Lexa repeated, getting a feel for the name on her tongue, “I’m very sorry for your loss.”

Clarke looked down towards her feet, and this time the silence was tense. It was broken by Abby returning from the kitchen with three cups of coffee. The three women sat down, Lexa on one couch, Abby and Clarke on another one facing her.

“I see you’ve met my daughter Clarke. Now, what can we help you with?”

“Well, Abby, I’m trying to pull together some details that might give me a lead on Jake’s killer. Is there anything you can tell me about Jake that might point me in the right direction? Any enemies he may have had, things like that?”

Lexa saw tears welling up in Abby’s eyes as she took a sip from her cup.

“Jake was an amazing man. He was always so determined to make the world a better place. I don’t understand why anyone would want to kill him. He recently had a run-in with a man named Charles Pike, though. I don’t know why or what exactly happened, Jake wouldn’t give me the details; but he seemed to be afraid of this guy.”

“Do you know if this Charles Pike was a friend of his, or someone he had met through work?”

“No, I don’t know where he knew my husband from. I just remembered the name because it was the sort of name that would stick in your mind.”

All of this was jotted down in a notebook Lexa had taken out. When she was finished writing, she looked up and took a breath.

“One last thing. It appeared that Jake may have been wearing a ring when he was killed, but that it was taken by the person who killed him. Do you know if Jake wore a ring?”

“Yes, he did,” Abby answered, “but I never took a good look at it. He’d had it since before we met. I believe it had a figure of a person on it, and something that looked like letters, maybe.”

Lexa wrote the information down before closing her notebook and putting it away. “Thank you, Abby. Would you mind taking a ride with me to the coroner to identify Jake’s body?”

At that, Abby’s face blanched. “I don’t—I mean—"

“I can do it.”

Lexa’s eyes flicked to Clarke, who had remained silent through the whole ordeal.

“Clarke—"

“Mom, I can do it. It’s obviously too much for you.”

The debate seemed to end there, as Abby gave an almost imperceptible nod and wordlessly headed upstairs. Lexa motioned for Clarke to follow her as they headed out to her car.

 

* * *

 

Within ten minutes, during which neither woman outright acknowledged the other (though Lexa did see Clarke sneaking glances at her once in a while), they had arrived at the county coroner’s office. The coroner was a young man named Jasper Jordan, who was kicked out of med school for “too much experimenting with alcohol,” as he had put it.

“Hey, Jasper. How’s it going today?” Lexa asked, as she walked in the door with Clarke in tow.

“Same as always, Detective. What can I do for you?”

“I have Clarke Griffin with me to identify the body of Jake Griffin. Clarke is Jake’s daughter.”

“I’m sorry about your father, Clarke,” Jasper said, as he walked toward a covered body on one of the tables in the room. The room was cold, and Lexa could see that Clarke was shivering slightly. Feeling uncharacteristically nervous and not quite sure what to do, Lexa followed Jasper to the table and gestured for Clarke to do the same.

Jasper pulled the cover down just far enough to reveal the body’s face, which Clarke tearfully identified as her father. He tried to keep the cover over the huge gash across Jake’s throat. There was no need for Clarke to see that, or the smashed fingers. Lexa appreciated that Jasper kept Clarke from seeing the full damage done to her father, and she wordlessly thanked him for his consideration.

As they left the coroner’s office and walked back towards her car, Lexa noticed that Clarke was still shivering. Before she could think it through, she spoke.

“You look cold. Can I buy you some hot chocolate?”

Clarke halted, and considered the offer before shrugging. “Okay. Do you know a place?”

“There’s a diner a few blocks over that really can’t be beat.”

The smallest of smiles graced Clarke’s face, and a strange flip-flopping sensation occurred in Lexa’s stomach as she opened the car door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you couldn't already tell, this story is a bit of a slowburn. Next chapter will reveal a bit more about Lexa and Clarke as people, and some details about their histories. Be patient, though; when things start to pick up, they pick up FAST.
> 
> As always, comments are majorly appreciated. They help me see what's working and what's not (and they're great motivation, too!)
> 
> You can also talk to me on tumblr at gaynamcarey.tumblr.com!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is very dialogue-heavy. It was going to be much longer, but I felt that it would be better to split the material into two chapters.
> 
> I'd really appreciate some feedback, though: do you guys want me to keep doing short-ish chapters with frequent updates, or switch to longer chapters with more time between updates? Your opinions matter!

“You really don’t have to do this, you know.”

Lexa looked up from her menu and raised her eyebrows at Clarke. “Is that an objection to my kindness? Because we can leave,” she snarked.

Clarke huffed. “No, I just would rather not be pitied because I’m the newly-minted ‘girl with a dead father.’”

At that, Lexa’s face softened. She hadn’t realized how someone in Clarke’s position might perceive the situation.

“I’m one of the best homicide detectives around, with better things to do than take pity on anyone. I brought you here because you looked like you could use a hot drink, not for any other reason.”

Clarke felt relief wash over her, but it was quickly pushed aside to make room for curiosity. How old was this woman, who seemed to be so far ahead in her field? She didn’t look to be any older than Clarke herself.

“How, um…how old are you?”

“Twenty-four. Why do you ask?”

The blonde’s eyes widened. “You’re two years younger than I am, and you’re already ranked so high? Did you skip college, or something?”

“Not everyone sees college as the end-all, be-all, Clarke. It seemed like a waste to me. Right after graduation, I enrolled in the police academy so that I might bring others the justice I had never received.”

Stunned and feeling guilty that she seemed to have offended the young detective, Clarke began to fiddle with the sugar packets on the table. Soon enough, a waitress arrived and asked what they planned on ordering.

“Two hot chocolates, please,” Lexa said with a polite smile, “with extra whipped cream on mine.”

The waitress looked to Clarke, as if to ask if what Lexa had said was correct. Clarke simply nodded.

As their menus were gathered and taken away, Clarke made eye contact with Lexa. “I’m sorry, Detective. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“It’s okay, Clarke. You couldn’t have known.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, before it was broken by Clarke’s curiosity once more.

“How come you know my first name, but I don’t know yours? That’s a bit unfair, don’t you think?”

Lexa bristled. “I don’t see a reason why you need to know my name. We aren’t friends. I’m working on a murder case that relates to you, that’s all. This is strictly professional.”

“Fine,” Clarke spat, a new sense of annoyance overcoming her.

A sigh escaped from Lexa’s lips. This time she had been the one to do the offending. Determined to extend an olive branch to the other girl, she asked the first thing that came to her mind.

“So, what do you do for a living?”

Clarke hesitated before answering, avoiding Lexa’s eyes. “I just finished medical school, so I’m doing my residency at the local hospital.”

“Have you always wanted to be a doctor?”

“Never. In fact, I still don’t think it’s what I want to do.”

“If you don’t enjoy it, why would you pursue it?”

Clarke looked up to meet Lexa’s questioning gaze. “My mom wouldn’t accept anything less than the best from me, for as long as I can remember. Going to med school and becoming a doctor was the only future she approved of.”

“What do you really want to be doing?” Lexa inquired.

“I don’t see a reason why you need to know. We aren’t friends,” Clarke mocked, jokingly but with a hint of bitterness evident in her tone.

Lexa nodded solemnly, which was not the reaction Clarke expected.

“Maybe one day I’ll tell you,” she added to ease the tension.

Their hot chocolates arrived, and Clarke blew on hers before taking a sip. In a few seconds the warmth of the drink had spread throughout her body and made the cold winter day a bit more bearable. Across the table, Lexa set her mug down to reveal that she had a bit of whipped cream on the tip of her nose. Clarke giggled and, at Lexa’s confused look, leaned over to swipe her nose clean. A deep blush settled on the brunette’s cheeks. In that moment Clarke couldn’t help but see the stoic detective as…well, as cute.

The rest of their time at the diner flew by without either woman saying a word. Only after they were in the car and headed back to the Griffin household did Lexa speak.

“You know, I get it. The whole ‘unsupportive parent’ thing. I’m gay,” Lexa started, and Clarke turned to look at her, “and my parents were less-than-accepting when I told them. They don’t speak to me anymore. But their expectations and values didn’t change who I was. I didn’t try to alter my sexuality to please them, and deciding to cut me off was their choice. I know your situation is a bit different, but you should take into account that you’re your own person. Follow the path that will make you happy, and let your mom make the decision to support you or not.”

Blue met green, and Clarke noticed for the first time how alluring the brunette’s eyes truly were.

“Thank you,” Clarke whispered. The sound of the engine disappeared, and she realized they had arrived in front of the house. She opened the door and began to get out of the car when she felt something being slipped into her hand. A business card.

“If you find anything that you think could assist me with your father’s case, please, give me a call.”

Clarke looked down at the card.

_Lexa Woods, Polis Police Department. 555-7389._

She grinned. “Lexa, huh? Guess I got your name after all.”

Lexa just shook her head as she leaned over to pull the passenger door shut and started up the car. Clarke found herself frozen in place, watching Lexa drive away until she was out of sight.

In an effort to make everything go back to normal, Clarke returned to her apartment in the evening. Raven and Octavia trapped her in a giant bear hug the minute she walked through the door before asking if she was okay. Clarke brushed them off, stating that she was tired and just wanted to go to bed. Her roommates looked on in worry as she trudged to her room.

The tears returned that night, loud and heavy. Clarke only fell asleep once she had exhausted all of her energy to stay conscious. She dreamt of her father, but the occasional flash of green seemed to make it into her mind.

 

* * *

 

 

Across town, Lexa sat in her office at the station. It was rare for her to be at work so late, but something about this case made her uneasy. The faster it was solved, the better.

Within a few minutes she had pulled up the criminal record for one Charles Pike. It appeared that Pike was a real piece of work. There were multiple arrests for petty crimes, among which were theft and assault. His only conviction, however, was for burglary, and he had served a short prison sentence. For the last three years Pike’s record had been clean: no arrests, no convictions. Lexa wondered if he really could be involved in Jake Griffin’s death.

“Hey, Lexa,” boomed Gustus as he walked through the doorway, “how’s it going?”

“Hi, Gustus. I just got back from interviewing Jake Griffin’s family.”

“It took you that long just to ask a few questions?”

“Well, I took his daughter to identify the body, and we went out for hot chocolate afterwards.” At Gustus’s questioning look, she added, “She seemed like she needed it.”

Gustus grunted, but said nothing more.

“I got a rough description of what the missing ring could look like,” Lexa said, finding herself eager to change the subject. “Mrs. Griffin said it had a figure of a person on it, along with some letters. And apparently, Mr. Griffin had recently been in an argument or hassle with someone named Charles Pike.”

“That’s funny. I was interviewing some employees at Ark today, and one of them was wearing a gold ring matching that description. The figure on it looked like the Grim Reaper, scythe and all. It had an inscription on it, but I couldn’t make it out.”

Lexa took a moment to absorb the information. If someone else nearby had a similar or identical ring, it could mean that it related to a cult or group of some sort that Jake was a part of.

Or it could mean that there was only one ring, and the person who had it was the killer.

“Do you remember the employee’s name? I would like to speak with him.”

“Let’s see,” Gustus muttered, as he shuffled through the bunch of papers that he had carried into the office, “here it is. Marcus Kane. He worked in the executive area of the Ark plant, not the lab. With Thelonius Jaha.”

So Marcus Kane could be connected to both victims. He was definitely a man worth talking to.

“What other information do you have on Kane?” Lexa asked.

“It seems Kane was recently promoted and just moved to the Polis office. He’s only been here for about three months. He was working late on the night of the murders, but said he didn’t see or hear anything unusual.”

“Is that all?”

“Yeah. It was only a preliminary interrogation, so we didn’t get any more information.”

Lexa knew that she needed to find out more from Marcus Kane, but it was already 9pm. She decided to call it a night, and headed home.

Unbeknownst to her, she was being watched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well shit, Lexa might be on the radar of someone less-than-friendly.
> 
> As always, comments are super. You can also find me on tumblr at gaynamcarey.tumblr.com!

**Author's Note:**

> And the story has begun. I don't have a set update schedule and don't really plan on making one, since my life is all over the place and I don't want to make commitments that I may not be able to keep. However, I will try my best to update ASAP; the next chapter is already written so that shouldn't take too long. As I said, this was really just a prologue, so chapters will be longer from here on out.
> 
> Comments are always appreciated, and you can find me on tumblr at gaynamcarey.tumblr.com!
> 
> \- Jenna


End file.
